"Opportunities & Strategies in Emerging Economies" will be the focus of the Monterey Institute’s annual student-organized international trade and investment conference, scheduled for 10:15 a.m. ( with check-in starting at 9:15 a.m.) to 5:30 p.m. (followed with a cocktail reception for paid conference attendees, panelists and reception speakers) on March 12 in the McCone Building, 499 Pierce Street in Monterey. This year’s conference will feature internationally recognized experts examining global trends shaping clean/green development opportunities, the relationship between trade and growth, and other issues central to the dialogue between emerging and developed economies.

Keynote speakers at the conference will be Dr. Robert A. Rogowsky, director of the U.S. International Trade Commission and a research fellow at the Independent Institute, and Dr. William W. Lewis, founder and former director of the McKinsey Global Institute and author of The Power of Productivity: Wealth, Poverty, and the Threat to Global Stability. Ambassador Alan Wolff, former U.S. Deputy Trade Representative and currently distinguished research professor at the Monterey Institute, will deliver closing remarks.

Over the course of the day-long conference, panels will address four topics: "The Future of the Global Trading System: Emerging Economies’ Response"; "Trade & Development: Empowering the Base of the Pyramid"; "Carbon Markets: Developing Countries & the Next Clean Development Mechanism"; and "Financing for International Development Projects: Successes & Challenges." The conference includes panelists from a wide range of government agencies in the U.S., China, and India, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector.

The conference is free for Monterey Institute students, staff, and faculty, with a modest charge for non-MIIS attendees. Conference registration and ticket purchase are available online.